Timothy TorresAlien: Isolation (for PC)Creative Assembly made a game worthy of Ridley Scott's original Alien. If you're a fan of that sci-fi horror classic, or survival horror, or stealth games, give Alien: Isolation a try.

Creative Assembly made a game worthy of Ridley Scott's original Alien. If you're a fan of that sci-fi horror classic, or survival horror, or stealth games, give Alien: Isolation a try.

Alien: Isolation ($49.99) is one of the best games of the year, and a far cry from 2013's disastrous Aliens: Colonial Marines. Instead of using James Cameron's Aliens as its foundation, as so many video game developers have done in the past, Creative Assembly looked at Ridley Scott's original 1979 film for inspiration. And it pays off. Rather than focusing on running and gunning, Alien: Isolation is all about evasion and subterfuge. Though you gain some assistance via radio, you, as the daughter of Ellen Ripley, must navigate a world of survival horror on your own, dodging the alien stalker using your wits, the environment, and the tools you craft. Alien: Isolation is smart, dark, and oppressive in all the right ways. It's one of PCMag's best PC games.

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Last Survivor of the Nostromo, Signing Off15 years after Alien's events, Amanda Ripley learns that the flight recorder that was aboard her mother's ship has been found on Sevastopol Station, an outpost owned by Seegson Corporation. Amanda enters the space station and finds the place in chaos. Looters and murderous androids run amok, while a hulking star beast is on the hunt. Amanda must find out the truth about the Nostromo and Seegson, dodge everyone trying to kill her, and escape.

The actual ending is a disappointing cliffhanger that could lead into future DLC. Hopefully, that doesn't turn out to be the case. That said, the rest of the story is so good and true to the original film that Alien: Isolation feels more like a sequel to Alien than some of the other movies in the series. Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ellen Ripley is a solid bonus.

Is This Gonna Be a Standup Fight, Sir, or Another Bughunt?As Amanda, you rely on subterfuge, not brute strength. The odds are stacked against you, so you must make use of objects in the environment to survive. You can bang a wall, blare a boombox, or toss noisemakers and flares to distract enemies long enough to sneak around them. The game offers you plenty of options.

Collecting scrap parts and items around the station increase your chance for survival as they let you craft medkits, EMP mines, or flashbangs. Keeping track of your inventory and limited ammo and knowing when and where to use each item is paramount. You have the option to hide in or under lockers, tables, gurneys, and vents, too. When stowing yourself in a locker, or using the iconic motion-tracker that detects enemy presences, your vision becomes blurred. To focus your vision, you click the right mouse button. Realistic details like that pull you further into the world of Alien: Isolation and your role as Amanda Ripley. You even gain a sort of twisted kinship with H.R. Giger's creation, your one constant companion through the whole adventure.

Slinking from room to incredibly well-designed room, dodging and outsmarting the beast, is tense, exhilarating stuff. You can even use the alien as an ally and pit it against the human enemies. But for the most part, you are its vulnerable prey, especially when investigating new parts of the space station. Locked doors ratchet up the tension as they trigger hacking mini-games that eat up seconds of your time, which may be long enough for the alien or a killer robot to find you. If you're killed, you need to reload your previous save. No save-scumming here. No checkpoints, either. The save stations are like Dark Souls II's bonfires; they're spaced far enough so that when you find one you breathe a sigh of relief...unless enemies are nearby.

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About the Author

Timothy Torres is a Junior Analyst on PCMag's consumer electronics team. He covers wearables, digital home, and various cool gadgets including the occasional video game. He has written all manner of copy for Computer Shopper, The Jersey Journal, Radio One, Random House, and 2D-X. Before entering the tech world, he attended New York University and w... See Full Bio

Alien: Isolation (for PC)

Alien: Isolation (for PC)

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